The Billionaire Bachelor
by sandys18
Summary: AU: Oliver is the CEO of Queen Consolidated and Felicity is his EA. In order to change his image and the company's image he has to go on a show called the "The Billionaire Bachelor" (Because apparently that's what all the playboy billionaires are doing these days to change their image) But things take a different turn when Felicity becomes a contestant.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **This is completely AU. Oliver is a Billionaire playboy CEO and Felicity is his EA. In order to change his image he goes on a reality show much like the Bachelor and Felicity ends up being a contestant on the show.

Thanks for KarenfrmMD for the ideas and for beta-ing this chapter.

**Hope you guys like it and let me know your thoughts!**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters in this story or any other thing you might recognize.

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**Chapter 1**

"Explain to me why I have to do this again?" Oliver asked his EA as he walked through the hallways of the very popular TV station.

Felicity fixed her glasses as she strutted along with him. "Your company needs a new image, a friendlier one. And you need a new image!" She stressed on the last point pointing her finger at him. "And, being on 'Billionaire Bachelor', would certainly help that cause. I mean, it did help the last billionaire that was on the show." Her short tight skirt only allowed her to take small steps. So when he took one step, she had to take almost two.

'The Billionaire Bachelor' was the cheesiest show he had ever seen. If not for his sister, Thea, who watched the show religiously, he wouldn't know anything about the damn show. He would rather do something more adventurous. "Couldn't I have done a show like 'The Amazing Race'?" Oliver whined.

Felicity frowned at him, "Like I explained to you last week, yesterday and this morning, 'The Billionaire Bachelor' is the newest and most talked about show on TV right now and hopefully this will help people understand that you're not just the Casanova that everyone seem to think you are. To let them know that you in fact have changed."

A woman smiled at Oliver from inside one of the glass offices that they passed.

"But, Felicity, I am the Casanova everyone thinks I am," he said, winking at the young girl standing behind the glass wall.

Felicity scoffed, "It's not all that you are… that's what I'm saying. But anyway, if my memory serves me right you haven't gone out on a date in more than six months. And I haven't sent any 'Sorry, it's not you, it's me' flowers to anyone on your behalf in a very long while." She pushed opened a massive glass door which led to a boardroom.

Oliver couldn't believe it really had been that long since his last date. He had to change this and soon.

"Ah, Mr. Queen, I'm Sebastian Blood… I'm the producer of the show." A brown haired man came up to him and extended his hand.

Oliver shook the man's hand bit apprehensively. Sebastian Blood looked like one of those money hungry, rating hungry leach of a producers. Behind the producer, standing in front of a green accented wall, were five of his colleagues, two women and three middle aged men.

"Mr. Queen, I hope Miss Smoak has briefed you about the show?" Sebastian said as they all sat around the oval glass table.

"Yes, she has." Too many times in fact. But he still wasn't convinced that he should be partaking in this ridiculous show. Oliver looked to his right where Felicity was. She was busy going through their contracts for the umpteenth time.

"And I hope she explained to you about the changes we're going to implement this season?" the producer asked as he adjusted his tie.

Felicity looked up from the papers, "What changes? No one told me about any changes!"

"We sent you an email this morning," one of the executives chimed in.

Concern took over Felicity's otherwise bright features. "I'm sorry, Oliv… Mr. Queen, I wasn't aware of it." She grabbed her tablet and quickly browsed through her email account.

Oliver almost caught her hand to reassure her. In the public eye, he was just her boss and she, his EA. However, in reality they were more than that. She was more than that to him, a trusted friend and a partner. In little more than three years, she had become an integral part of his life. To the point he was unable to take any business or personal decisions without her. He relied on her, sometimes more than he should.

Her eyebrows went up when she finally came across the said mail. "If by this morning, you meant half an hour ago, I haven't updated Mr. Queen on the changes." She glared at the producer sitting across the table from her.

Oliver found himself smiling at Felicity's red and wound up face. "That's fine, Miss Smoak. I'm sure Mr. Blood wouldn't mind explaining the changes to me now." He turned to Sebastian and gave a warning look.

The producer's face crumpled hearing the accusation brought forth. "I'm sorry, I told one of my assistants to email the details to you this morning, but…"

"Never mind about that, just explain the details to me now," Oliver instructed.

"Yes, of course, Mr. Queen." Sebastian put on a fake smile as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Normally, in our program, there would be ten contestants, but this time around, we've decided to bring it down to five."

"That doesn't sound like a problem…" Oliver felt that it was more of a relief. Less number of contestants may mean fewer days spent on the show.

"Yes... and we thought instead of using five random contestants, we'll invite five women from your past." He handed Oliver a file. "And here are some of the women we managed to track down and most of them have agreed to appear on the show."

Felicity put her tablet on the table. "What? That's ridiculous!" She crossed her arms in front of her chest and shot a menacing glance at the producers sitting in front of them.

"I don't think this is a good idea." But, still out of curiosity, Oliver opened the file placed in front of him.

"Mr. Queen?" Felicity was calling his name, but he was too busy reading the profiles of his past conquests.

The first profile was of 'Helena Bertinelli' one of his crazy ex-girlfriends. She never understood when he said they were done, it meant they were done.

The next one was of Shado. A sweet girl that wasn't getting the attention she deserved from her boyfriend, who also used to be Oliver's personal trainer.

McKenna Hall's profile was next. She was the police officer, who almost arrested him for a DUI few years back. After a night of passionate love making, which led to her never arresting him, he dated her for a few months. Just because she had a gun and she came from a family with lots of brothers that also were police officers.

The fourth profile was of 'Isabel Rochev'. She was a gold digger, but was great in bed. Being a former Russian ballet dancer, certainly had made her a very limber woman.

He turned to the next profile. It contained a picture of Sara Lance. The main reason she was ever into him was because her sister was into him. And he was into her only because he used to be a complete jerk.

He flipped over to the last profile. His fingers tightened on the edges of the file as his eyes fell upon the picture of 'Laurel Lance'. She was Sara's sister. Laurel was the only woman he ever believed to have been in love with. If there was or had been a possibility for a playboy like him to even think about settling down, he always believed it was with a woman like Laurel Lance.

"Did Laurel agree to be on the show?" His voice came out softer than he expected and his eyes stayed locked on the picture of the brunette.

"It wasn't easy to convince her. But she agreed in the end," Sebastian replied, his eyes gleaming with the hope that Oliver would agree to do the show.

"Mr. Queen, you cannot possibly be considering this?" Felicity grumbled next to him.

"I'm not!" Oliver put the file on the table. "But, just out of curiosity, who else agreed?"

"Oliver?" Felicity muttered in a low voice, which only he could hear.

Sebastian leaned forward and took the file back, "Helena Bertinelli, Mckenna Hall and Isabel Rochev."

"What happened with the other two?" Oliver pried. He could hear Felicity mumbling her protests in his right ear.

Sebastian turned the pages and stopped at Shado's profile. "Shado Wilson as she's known now is married and is pregnant. Sara Lance just said that she's not interested in men anymore."

Somehow he wasn't all that surprised about what he had heard, especially what he heard of Sara. This suddenly began to look like a second chance at a different life disguised as TV show. He felt this maybe his chance to right some wrongs that he had done by these women and show them he was a changed man. More in particular, he thought that this might give him a chance to try and mend things with Laurel. Although, he would never want to let some TV station make a circus out of his life.

"I'm sorry, I won't be doing this show." He stood up to leave.

Felicity heaved a sigh of relief as she, too, stood up.

"That's sad to hear. We were short of a contestant anyway. I guess it's a good thing we have Bruce Wayne to fall back on." Sebastian gathered his documents and got up.

"Wait, what? Bruce Wayne wants to do the show?" Oliver's brows arched at the center. Bruce Wayne, ironically, was both his friend and his nemesis. There was no real animosity between the two, but they were fiercely competitive.

"Oli… Mr. Queen!" Felicity warned as if she already knew what he was about to do.

"As soon as he got to know you were interested, we were contacted by his assistant," a young female executive replied.

"I'm going to do this show," Oliver announced leaving Felicity no chance to give her two cents.

"That's wonderful!" Sebastian flashed his sleazy smile. "So, then we'll arrange everything and, hopefully, we'll be able to start by end of next week. But, we still need one more contestant."

"What about her?" One of the male members of the production team pointed at Felicity.

Oliver turned to his blonde EA, who looked uncharacteristically speechless.

"Boss and his secretary. I love the idea! And the camera will just love her," Sebastian added with a wide grin.

"No!" Felicity said bluntly. "And for your information, I'm actually an Executive Assistant! Anyway, isn't it supposed to be women from his past and women he has dated?"

"I'm sure we can spin something." Sebastian looked around at his team, who nodded along.

A light bulb went off in Oliver's head. If he were to do this show, it would be great to have someone from his team on the inside. She could be his own personal spy. She could even talk him up to Laurel. "Can you guys give Miss Smoak and me a moment?" Oliver requested.

"Yes… of course." Sebastian gestured his team to follow him outside.

The moment the door closed behind them, Oliver felt Felicity's finger poking at his chest. "No! No! No! Whatever you have to say, won't change my mind!"

"But, Felicity… I need my girl Wednesday. You can be my spy. You can tell me what Lau… what the other girls think of me and help me out." Oliver pleaded catching both her wrists.

"It's girl Friday! And, No! I don't want to do this. People already think we're sleeping together. And this would just confirm it." She pulled her hands out of his hold.

"Why would people think we're sleeping together?" This truly was news to Oliver. Scandalous affairs between bosses and assistants were common, but what would give anyone that impression about the two of them was hard for him to understand. They were very professional. At least he thought they were.

She put her hands on her hips, "Oliver, I basically do everything for you. We're always together. The only thing that we actually don't do is sleep together. Well… except for that one time, we both woke up in your bed together without knowing how we ended up there… or if anything happened."

"Nothing happened." He assured her for the hundredth time, even though he, too, wasn't sure if anything had actually happened or not.

"That's not the point, Oliver! Forget about other people think of us. What about your mom? And Walter? What are they going to think? And what are we going to do when all of this is over?" she fumed.

"I will tell them why I want you there. You don't have to worry about them at all. I need you, Felicity…" He grabbed her hands again and gave her that look he knew she wouldn't be able to say no to.

"I hate you!" She shoved him weakly.

"Does that mean you would do it?" he asked.

Felicity nodded apprehensively. "I know I'm going to regret this, but if I'm going to do this I have few conditions…."

"Anything," Oliver said eagerly.

She bit her nails as she took her time to come up with her conditions. "First of all, you have to make sure I have a job to go to when all of this is over… And I need a month vacation paid by you to the destination of my choice."

"Deal!" He gave her his hand and she shook it rather tentatively.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thank you everyone for the awesome response for this story! Thanks for all the great reviews and favorites and alerts!

Huge thanks to KarenfrmMD who gave me this idea and wanted me to write it, and thanks for betaing this chapter too! :D

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**Chapter 2**

There were few more minutes till they started filming. Oliver was standing at the bottom of the stairway waiting, just as the director had instructed. He looked at the five red roses placed on top of the stand on the left of him. A rose for each girl that would be competing to win his heart.

"Are you nervous?" the host, John Diggle, asked. John was a washed up 80's child star turned TV host. No one expected the kid actor with the catch phrase, '_What did you say man?_' to win an Oscar, but no one had expected his career to turn out this way either. His first sitcom had turned him into an overnight sensation. But, like most stories in tinseltown went, he was typecasted and was pushed into becoming a star of several mediocre TV movies and a string of unsuccessful action flicks. However, most critics were now calling his venture into hosting reality shows as the beginning of the revival of his career.

"Not really," Oliver lied. He was indeed nervous. Actually, he thought this maybe the same fear, excitement and confusion a man standing at the altar waiting for his bride would feel. Except he wasn't waiting for just one woman, but four. Felicity didn't really count. In his mind she was just his partner in crime.

In truth, he now regretted ever forcing Felicity into joining the show. He now thought he would have been better off having her by his side giving him moral support, rather than having her stay in a mansion with his ex-girlfriends. Especially since the producers have also insisted that she was not to carry out any duties as his EA while they were filming. Or else it would have been unfair to the other contestants.

The substitute EA was nowhere as efficient as Felicity. Nor was she any good at matching a tie to his shirt like Felicity was. Nor was her replacement was able to make him smile after yesterday's meeting that didn't go all that well for the company.

"I would be nervous if I were you, man. Four ex-girlfriends and one 'Wildcard Contestant?'" Diggle stated, emphasizing the last two words with air quotations.

'A wildcard contestant' was how Felicity would be introduced to the show. Oliver was supposed to act surprised when he found out Felicity was a contestant. While she was supposed to act surprised when she found out that her boss was the 'The Billionaire' on 'The Billionaire Bachelor'.

The only people who were not aware of this plan were the other participants, millions of viewers that would be watching the show and his sister. Thea, for the life of her, could not keep a secret. So they had to keep her in the dark about it all. If Thea ever got to know how contrived most parts of her favourite reality show was, she would undoubtedly be utterly devastated.

They were, in fact, given a script to follow. The badly written one page script was somehow supposed to make the whole 'wildcard' thing seem more believable.

Oliver raised his brows. "Maybe you haven't seen me on the tabloids." He flashed the good ol' smirk that said, 'I_'m __the__ Oliver Queen, nothing fazes_ _me_'.

Although, according to Felicity, he hadn't graced the tabloids for quite some time with a hot date. But, Oliver Queen had done enough, dated enough models and celebrities to build a reputation that would last for years.

"Oh I've seen the tabloids." Diggle fixed his tie as someone came and powdered his face. "But, still, ex-girlfriends are a whole other deal. Do you have any idea what happens on these shows?"

Oliver rolled his eyes. "I don't think it's going to be anything that I can't handle." He hoped.

"Let's hope so," Diggle echoed his thoughts.

Sebastian shouted from afar. "Everything's set? Let's begin!" After he gave few more cues, most of the crew scattered and disappeared out of sight. When everyone fell silent the cameras began to roll.

Diggle gave a little overview on the show and then he looked at Oliver. "Shall we meet the lovely ladies then?" he asked.

"Sure," Oliver nodded, adorning a fake smile.

"Then let's welcome our first contestant, Miss Helena Bertinelli," Diggle announced.

A dark haired woman dressed in a long black dress appeared at the top of the stairs case. Helena Bertinelli seemed as mysterious and wicked as Oliver remembered her to be. She slowly descended down the stairs with her gaze locked on him.

"Hello, Oliver." She finally came to stand before him bearing a teasing smile. "It's nice to see you again," she whispered before placing a kiss on his cheek.

"Good to see you too Helena," he said as he handed her one of the roses.

"It's going to be just like old times," she winked and walked passed him, deliberately brushing her shoulder against his.

"Miss Isabel Rochev," Diggle called the next participant and the brunette came into view.

She gently sauntered down, a hand sliding along the railing. Oliver's eyes immediately ran to the slit in Isabel's red dress that revealed her long lean legs. The legs which he remembered straddling him. The ones that he learnt could be bent in quite a few ways that he didn't think was humanly possible. Until he met her of course.

"Isabel," he presented her a rose and leaned in to place a kiss on her cheek.

Before he could react, she cupped his face and pressed her lips tightly on his. She pulled back slowly and grabbed the rose out of his hand. "This is going to be fun." She walked away, trailing a finger across his chest.

Oliver was sure he was done for. He had only met two of the women so far and he could already see the folly in his decision to be on the show. He should have just listened to Felicity. She was right. She was always right. It was a grave mistake to agree to be on a reality show with four ex-girlfriends, plus his EA, who apparently according to rumors, he had been sleeping with on a regular basis.

It was all Bruce Wayne's fault. It was Oliver's rivalry with the Gotham's prince that had lured him into this. He could just imagine Bruce smiling at his TV watching Oliver Queen's downfall.

Helena scoffed loudly from behind and Oliver turned to the sound. The two women were sitting as far away as possible from the other on the large couch. They were eyeing each other like two cats preying on a kill.

"Are you nervous, Oliver?" Diggle asked again, but in a more professional tone than earlier.

"No. Excited," Oliver quickly corrected. He didn't want anyone watching the show to think that the playboy, Oliver Queen, was worried over something as miniscule as meeting his old flames.

"Ok, then." Diggle grinned. "It's time to meet the next contestant, Miss Mckenna Hall." He turned his eyes to the stairs.

Oliver looked up and saw Mckenna. She seemed different. Her frizzy hair was now straight and her '_I'm a cop and I don't care what people think of me' _walk seemed long gone. It was fair to say Oliver was pleasantly surprised by her appearance. However, she appeared to be somewhat struggling to walk in her high heeled shoes and long glittery dress. It was the kind of outfit that the old Mckenna would not have ever been caught wearing.

"Hi," she uttered shyly, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

He couldn't believe this was the same woman that had the ability to blare off a hundred choice words per minute. The same woman, who used to look condescendingly upon every woman that dared to wear makeup. "You look different… good different." He kissed her cheek and gave her a rose.

"Well, some things change people," she said it with a perfectly placed smile. But there was a sting to her words that didn't go unnoticed by Oliver.

As she walked passed him, Diggle announced the entrance of the next contestant, "Let's welcome Miss Laurel Lance to the show. Shall we?"

Oliver's eyes flew up to the stairs.

Few seconds ticked away and there was no sign of her.

"Let's welcome Miss Laurel Lance," the host said again.

Just when Oliver was beginning to think that Laurel may have changed her mind last minute and run away, she finally emerged. She looked breathtakingly beautiful as always and suddenly being on the show felt worthwhile.

As he gazed at her, he was reminded that one-upping Bruce Wayne may not have been the only reason why he had agreed to do the show. He just had not been willing to admit to it openly.

She stood there a moment as though contemplating whether she should turn around and go or just walk down the stairs. Someone from the production team was heard urging her to start walking. She heaved in a breath and eventually came down the stairs.

Oliver snatched one of the two remaining roses. "Hey," he mumbled.

"Hey." She took the long stem of the rose between two fingers.

He stepped closer and brushed his lips against her cheek.

When he stepped back, she smiled weakly. "Who would have thought we'll meet again?"

"On a reality show? Never!" Oliver may have never thought he'll meet her on a TV show, but for the past five years, he had been secretly hoping to meet her again.

Laurel lifted the rose up to her nose and breathed in its rich scent. "See you around, I guess…"

Oliver followed her with his eyes as she walked up to where the other girls were seated.

She sat next to Mckenna, who quickly leaned in and whispered something into her ear. Laurel then whispered back to her. They both giggled like two teenage girls, much to the annoyance of the other two women seated beside them.

Oliver watched on, wishing he could hear what they were talking about and whether it was about him.

"Uhm…" Diggle cleared his throat. "Oliver, it's time to meet the wildcard entry," he reminded.

Oliver turned around and looked ahead, his mind still stuck on the brunette he had just kissed. "Ok, then."

"So, as you know, the four contestants that you've met so far, are women you've had some kind of a connection with, in the past. But this contestant that you're going to meet is from your present. And she doesn't know that you're here," John Diggle explained to him as well as to the camera. "Are you ready to meet her, Oliver?"

"I am," he replied.

"Alright, let's meet the wildcard contestant," Diggle said.

The familiar blonde popped up on cue. Gone were her glasses and pony tail. The woman standing there didn't quite look like his quirky EA. It wasn't the first time he had seen her all dolled up. Yet, he felt something strange and confusing upon seeing her in her fuchsia dress. Perhaps it was the whole setting or the shimmering light of the chandelier falling upon her face. Or maybe it was just the fact that he hadn't seen her for two days and he had simply missed her.

"Felicity?" He didn't have to act surprised, he was.

Felicity said the exact words written on the little one page script they were given, "Mr. Queen? I didn't know you were going to be here! I'm so surprised!" Her eyes went wide as she placed a hand on her cheek.

Her acting skills almost made him burst into a fit of laughter. She was either the worst actor in the world or she was overacting on purpose. Considering that she was not exactly ecstatic about the whole idea of her being a part of the show, he was inclined to believe it was the latter.

"Miss Smoak? I'm surprised to see you here too." His acting probably wasn't anything to write home about either. But he would rather blame it on the, 'on the nose dialogues' he was given. "I thought you said you were going on a vacation?"

"Oh, well, here I am…" She bit on her lower lip the moment she realized she had said something off script.

The woman seemed to possess some kind of a magical power to make him smile and forget everything else around him. "Yes, here you are." He too decided to abandon the stupid script and grabbed the last rose. "But, I'm glad you are here." He moved closer to plant a kiss on her blushing cheeks.

She gulped. "I'm glad you're here, too…. But, not that I wouldn't have been happy if it weren't you." She shook her head slightly and continued to ramble. "What I mean to say is I would have been happy if it were any other guy, too… not any guy… obviously, but any decent guy who is not some kind of a psychopath."

When he finally laid his lips on her soft warm cheeks, her babbles instantly stopped. He gently moved back and handed her the rose.

Her eyelids fluttered. "They can edit that whole bit out, right? The part where my brain lost control over what I was saying?" She guiltily looked at him and then at Diggle.

Diggle seemed as though he was struggling to keep a straight face. "Thank you, Miss Smoak."

"I guess I'll just go now and sit over there with the other girls," Felicity said as she bent the stem of the rose in the middle, almost to its breaking point.

"I guess so," Oliver added and somehow it had only served to agitate his EA.

Casting him a death glare she made her way over to the couch behind him.

Oliver turned around to face the girls. Each of them was beautiful and special to him in different ways. Some more than others. "_What have I gotten myself into?" _he thought as he studied the five women.

The sparkling eyes and the nervous smile of the woman wearing the fuchsia dress caught his eye. And somehow he felt assured that everything would work out just fine.

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**/A/N: **GHFAN4EVA21, Guest, dhh, Xsoulfulx, powsh, CassandraBlake, KarenfrmMD: Thanks for the review!

Jessspider, LifeFiction, DeeCee1430, bjq, The oddman out, bdbouchra: Thank you so much for the review, I hope you enjoyed this chapter too.

Feli41319: Thanks for the lovely review. I hope you liked my other stories too.

Dark-supernatural-Angel, VeraDeDiamant: So Diggle is there. But I hope you liked his job as a host. I figured this way he'll be around more.

Winki, lizzybennetdarcy, montclaire06, princespain Isa, bonetrek, new obsession: Thanks soooooo much!

x . soul . x, beckaa21, mellymel22, morrison08, Emily – hotchner – and - olicityfan: Thanks! Soooo happy you enjoyed reading it. This is a fun story for me to write too!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Sorry for the delay. Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews. Thanks for the alerts and favorites. Hope you guys enjoy this.

Thanks to KarenfrmMD for betaing the chapter.

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**Chapter 3**

Few hours after the whole introduction ceremony was over, Felicity found herself in a Mansion alone with four of Oliver's ex-girlfriends. No Oliver, no hosts, but just the ex-girlfriends and of course all the cameras that were tracking her every move.

It took Felicity a while to even remotely get used to the idea of having cameras follow her around 24/7. Time to time, she would become so self-conscious that she would even have trouble walking like a normal person. The producers had ensured her that there were no cameras installed in the bathrooms and bedrooms. And that knowledge was the only thing that was keeping her sane.

Felicity bit her nails as she looked around. The other girls were lounging in the living room in their extravagant nightwear, while she sat in a lone armchair in her usual jammies and her bunny slippers. She felt like the geeky girl she was back in high school, surrounded by beautiful cheerleaders, who thought that the world revolved around them.

Helena began to drum her fingers on her knee. "Well, this is boring!" she let out an exasperated sigh.

"Tell me about it," Isabel put aside the crossword puzzle that she had been trying to solve for the last few minutes.

"There's nothing on TV," Mckenna complained, as she flipped through the channels. The blue light of the TV flashed on and off on her face. "Maybe we should just go to our rooms?" She turned to Laurel sitting next to her on the sofa.

Laurel looked up from the book she was reading. "Well, we can't go, yet. We have to stay here at least till 9. That's the rule."

Clearly, it was the show's way of making sure some form of juicy drama transpired between the contestants. The longer they stayed together, the higher the possibility of friction between the contestants to emerge. And bigger the drama, higher the ratings.

Helena scoffed. "We have a Little Miss Perfect amongst us, don't we?"

Laurel resumed her reading without saying anything in return.

"Why don't we play a game?" Isabel suggested.

Felicity stopped biting her nails and put her hand down. "What kind of a game?" She was bored without her precious tablet and Internet. So, whatever game they wanted to play, she was in.

"Truth or dare?" Helena asked.

The former ballerina, Isabel, looked the most enthusiastic of the lot. "Yeah, we'll get to know each other more." Somehow 'getting to know one another' didn't seem like Isabel's real intention.

While 'Truth or Dare' was not Felicity's favorite game in the world, she felt this would suffice as a way for her to learn more about the other contestants. After all, she was there to spy on them and then to somehow pass that information on to Oliver. "That sounds good." Seriously, how worse could it be than her friends daring her to kiss 'Eddy Holmes' in her basement when she was fourteen. There was no way someone was going to slobber all over her tonight like Eddy did.

"So, you two in?" Isabel cast a glance at Mckenna and Laurel.

Mckenna shrugged and turned the TV off. "I guess I'm in…" She threw the remote onto the coffee table in front of her.

"What about you, Little Miss Perfect? Are you too perfect to join us?" Helena probed.

Laurel closed her book. From where Felicity sat, she couldn't see the title of the book, but she could barely make out the picture of 'Lady Justice' on its cover. So she assumed that the book must be about justice or law.

"As long as you guys remember we're not exactly alone here," Laurel alluded at the cameras.

"Don't worry, we won't ask you how good the sex was with Oliver … All of us already know that," Isabel laughed and Felicity nervously giggled along.

It was Felicity's first night with these girls from Oliver's past. And she was already beginning to feel as if she didn't belong there. They actually had a past with him, when all she had was that one morning, which they woke up in his bed without remembering what really happened the night before. And, according to him, nothing had really happened. In spite of their lack of clothing that had made her suspect otherwise.

"Ok, who wants to go first?" Isabel asked, but no one dared to even look at anyone. "Ok then, I'll choose… Mckenna, truth or Dare?"

After pondering over it for few seconds, Mckenna answered, "Dare."

Isabel smiled like a villain, who was secretly scheming to take over the world. The only thing missing was the mustache twirling. "Alright… I dare you to do a one minute striptease."

"What? Are you kidding me?" Mckenna's eyes went wide.

"You heard her," Helena chimed in.

Felicity suddenly began to have second thoughts about this game. How could she have been stupid enough to believe that things couldn't get worse than kissing 'Eddy Drooling Holmes'. "Isn't this supposed to be a family show?" Felicity pointed out quickly.

"It's on cable, Blondie! And anyway, they don't have to show things they don't want to." Helena put one leg over the other and sat back in her chair.

It seemed there was no getting out of it now. The only thing she could do now was to figure out what she should choose when it was her time to play the game.

Isabel glowered at Mckenna. "Are you doing this or what?"

Mckenna reluctantly stood up and pulled her hair band out of her pony tail. Humming an unfamiliar tune, she started to dance. Mckenna slowly untied the loosely tied knot on her robe as she swayed back and forth and left to right.

Felicity had never seen such an unsexy striptease. She was no dancer either, but she was sure she could do better than Mckenna. The young cop had no rhythm and looked rather uncoordinated.

Isabel and Helena laughed amongst themselves, while Laurel just stared apathetically at the cop. Thankfully, Mckenna's time ran out just as she slid her robe off her shoulders and no one had to endure that torture for long.

"Thanks for that very…. Original dance," Isabel commented.

Mckenna slumped back on to the sofa muttering something to Isabel and then she cast her eyes on Laurel. "Alright, your turn, Laurel."

Laurel shifted in her chair uncomfortably. "I choose… truth." Her face immediately shrank as though she regretted the choice she had made.

Mckenna tied her hair into a little bun. "Why are you here? I mean, why do you want to be on this show?"

Laurel clasped her hands together. "What do you mean why am I here? I am here for the same reason all of you are!"

"Funny… I thought you were here because you're in debt," Isabel raised an eyebrow.

Laurel folded her arms in front of her chest and glared at Isabel. "What are you talking about?"

"Didn't you get disbarred because of your little drug addiction? You see, Laurel, I do my homework before I venture into anything. In fact, I know why all of you are here." Isabel smugly scanned the faces around her. Her stare settled on Felicity the last. "Even you!" She pointed her finger at her.

"Hmm?" Felicity pushed her glasses up and steadied them. Did Isabel really know that she was there being Oliver's Mata Hari?

"Little Miss Perfect isn't so perfect after all." Helena's remark had everyone diverting their attention back to the supposedly disbarred lawyer. "So, is what she's saying true? You're here just for the money?"

"I'm here because I want to give Oliver and I another chance." Laurel's eyes dodged everyone in the room and that certainly gave the impression that she was not being completely honest. "And I hope that's the reason why the four of you are here, too!" she summed up.

Her answer for some reason elicited a haughty laugh out of Helena.

"Ok, Helena… how about you? What do you choose? Truth or Dare?" Laurel spat, cutting Helena's laugh short.

Helena turned her eyes up at Laurel. "Whatever you choose for me is fine, Little Miss Perfect."

Laurel smiled slyly. "Then, tell me… Is it true your last two boyfriends have restraining orders against you? And is it true you had something to do with the disappearance of one of them?"

"Well, well, what do you know… Someone else has come all prepared, too." Isabel teased as she casually checked her perfectly done nails.

Helena looked quite amused by Laurel's accusations. "I'm impressed. But, you're forgetting that you get to ask only one question. So, I'll answer the first one. Yes. I'm not allowed to be in hundred yards of either one of them. It's not my fault that those guys were morons!"

"If you say so…" Laurel coolly opened her book again and started to read.

Laurel's little quip didn't seemed to have either riled or affected Helena in any way. She simply laughed a little and turned to Felicity. "Blondie! It's your turn now. What do you want to do?"

"Truth… No…Dare! No…" Felicity struggled. Whatever she would choose, she knew it would get her into trouble.

"Make up your mind…" Isabel ground out. "Honestly, I don't understand what Oliver ever saw in you. Well, I suppose it could be just convenience. Secretaries are always around and available."

"I'm an 'Executive Assistant'!" She enunciated each syllable clearly and sharply. The worst thing about being Oliver Queen's EA was people always misconstruing her as being a Secretary or a Personal Assistant. Although, in a way, anything was better than people assuming that she was his, mistress. "And, Oliver and I are not what most people think we are!" she cried.

Isabel muttered something under her breath, but Felicity couldn't really catch what it was. Although she didn't really need to hear to know that it probably wasn't something nice. The woman was a witch dressed in human skin.

"So, Blondie, what is it then?" Helena reminded her.

"Truth." She wasn't going to embarrass herself like Mckenna had.

Helena studied her head to toe and flashed a wicked smile. "How did your first time with Oliver come about?"

"The first time?" Felicity could feel all eyes on her. The other four girls seemed rather intrigued to learn more about their scandalous office romance. Even Laurel had put her book down to listen to her story. "I don't think it's a very interesting story…" She didn't want them to know that the story was virtually nonexistent. "Not that it's boring, but I don't think you would want to know the details."

"Of course, we do!" Mckenna interjected.

"But… It was just…" She took a deep breath and decided to bend the truth a little bit. "We never planned it to happen… I mean, we both got drunk at his birthday party and one thing led to another…" Suddenly, images of Oliver frantically kissing her neck while trying to rip her dress open flashed in her mind. She stopped her story midway and tried to analyze the images. She couldn't decide whether it was her imagination playing tricks on her or she was finally recalling things from that crazy night. "And we both woke up in his bed the next morning." She slurred confusedly and ended the story. Yet, her mind was still stuck on those images. It just couldn't be true. There was no way she was remembering things that happened so long ago, now! Maybe the months of wondering about what truly had transpired that night, had finally driven her crazy.

Felicity quickly shook her head as though to shake the silly thoughts out of her head. The doorbell rang repeatedly and her eyes ran in the direction of the front door. It kept on ringing, yet no one was willing to get up and answer it.

Laurel slammed her book shut. "I guess I'll go and check who it is." She stomped away towards the door. In a little while, Laurel returned with a little gold box and some sort of a letter. She sat down and kept the box on her lap. "Someone has left these at the door." She ripped the envelope open and began to read the letter as the others eagerly listened in. "Greetings, contestants. Hope all of you are making yourselves feel at home and finding new friends. We know you didn't get to spend that much time with Oliver after the introductions this afternoon. So we thought we should fix that. You have received a box with five fortune cookies. Take one and find out what your future holds." Laurel held the box up high. "Who wants to go first?"

Mckenna reached over and grabbed the box. "Let's see…" She picked a cookie and cracked it open. "Day after tomorrow, you'll be going on a romantic carriage ride with a Billionaire." She read the little note inside. "That sounds interesting," she added with a dazed smile.

"Pass it over," Helena commanded from her seat and Mckenna threw it her way.

Helena took a fortune cookie and took its note out. "A fun night at the carnival awaits you, four days from now," she read out loud and tossed the box at Isabel.

Isabel broke a fortune cookie into two and took out the little scroll with two fingers. She looked quite unimpressed by whatever fortune she had received. "Three days from now, you'll be going for coffee with a certain Billionaire," she read it for everyone to hear and handed it back to Helena.

Helena threw the box to Felicity. "Hey, Blondie! Catch!"

Felicity managed to grab it before it hit the ground. She took one of the two fortune cookies. The cookie she had chosen was hard to break for some reason. It took her three tries to finally crack the cookie open. "An exciting day awaits you tomorrow. You'll be mountain climbing with a famous billionaire," she read the message. "Mountain climbing? Just my luck!" she groaned. She was afraid of heights. Several times Oliver had invited her to go mountain climbing with him. She had always managed to come up with an excuse and decline Oliver's invitation. He called it a very calming experience and a good exercise. But all she saw it as was an invitation for death.

"And I thought I got the worst one," Helena laughed like a hyena.

Felicity made an annoyed face as she passed the box with the last cookie to Laurel.

Laurel rather unenthusiastically opened the fortune cookie and read the message. "You will have a romantic candle lit dinner with a Billionaire in five more days."

"Well, isn't that just perfect!" Isabel whined crushing the remainder of the fortune cookie in her hand into little bits.

"At least you won't be climbing mountains. And possibly die after plummeting down to earth and breaking all 206 bones in your body… Which is something I'm currently trying not to think about. And then there's always the possibility of dying by the lack of oxygen at those high altitudes. I don't think it's scientifically proven that you could die like that, but it should be," Felicity rambled as she stared at the crumbled little piece of paper in her palm.

It seemed she was going to be mountaineering tomorrow with Oliver Queen. But she would rather kiss Eddy Holmes again.

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**A/N:** Sorry there was not much Olicity in this chapter but there will be on the next one. Because they'll be going out on their first date. (Sort of). You might even see a kiss... Maybe... ;)

KarenfrmMD, Guest, taniabreithaupt, bjq, kripnatic : Hope you guys enjoyed this too and wasn't too boring.

jessspider, GreenPhoenix3 : Felicity's going to be in a bit of trouble in the next chapter.

LalaWho, bdbouchra,: Thank you!

montclaire06, Gin2a: Soooo happy you guys like reading this. I don't really watch reality shows either. Except for The Voice.

Galatea Black, CassandraBlake, :Thanks so much for the review.

GalanthaDreams, LifeFiction, ximaginex, lizzybennettdarcy, olicity-smoak-queen, soutje 22 : I love writing Felicity's babbles. I'm so glad you liked Diggle as a host. I wasn't so sure how you guys will like it.

evansrachel2282, bonetrek ,Guest, : Thanks hope you liked this!

emilyhotchnerandolicityfan, mellymel22: Thanksssss!

DarkSupernaturalAngel: I'm hoping to add some viewer commentaries, but I still haven't figured out how and when.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Thanks to everyone for the wonderful feedback for the last chapters. Thanks for the alerts and favorites.

Thanks so much KarenfrmMD for going through this chapter for me.

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**Chapter 4**

The dreaded day had come. Felicity was finally about to go mountaineering with her boss.

For the last twenty three minutes, she had been sitting on a bench in the mansion garden, waiting for the show's host to arrive. He was supposed to come and escort her to wherever her date with Oliver was to take place. But, John Diggle was late.

Truth be told, the so called date felt more like a chore than a date. If not for the mission she had undertaken as Oliver's personal spy, she would have faked some kind of an illness and refused to go.

In fact, last night, in the privacy of her bedroom, she had written a letter to Oliver. The letter entailed all that she had learnt about his ex-girlfriends so far. Her plan was to secretly hand the letter over to Oliver during their date. Hopefully, without getting caught by any cameras.

She had actually devised a plan A, B and a C. She just hoped plan A would suffice and she wouldn't have to resort to any of the others. Until then, the letter which was folded about dozen times stayed in the safety of her back pocket. Now and then, her hand roamed over the pocket just to make sure the letter was still there.

Felicity looked down at her clothes. She winced at the horrible attire given to her by the show's producers. It made the dreadful adventure ahead even more unappealing. They made her wear it just because it had one of their sponsors' names on the front. They were using her like a marketing tool and she simply hated that. If she had had it her way, she would have been wearing something bright and happy. Not the boring grey outfit she was sporting now. Once all this was over, Oliver was going to hear an earful from her. That was for sure.

Felicity was fed up of waiting. She got up from the bench and started to pace about. Whichever direction she would move, the two cameramen there would follow her. Whenever she would stop moving, they would, too. She found nothing more irritating than that. "Guys, you're not going to miss anything huge if you stay ten feet away from me for two minutes..."

One of the men snorted out a laugh, while the other one mumbled something in the lines of, "Sorry, I'm just doing my job."

The sound of a helicopter soaring over their heads brought their small conversation to a halt.

Felicity spotted a chopper with the 'Billionaire Bachelor' trademark, hovering above her.

It slowly descended onto the ground, somewhat far away from her. Her tightly bound pony tail swung like crazy till the helicopter propeller gradually came to a stop.

"Felicity! Let's go!" John Diggle jumped out of the chopper and motioned a hand signaling her to follow him.

She took few unsure steps forward. Helicopters definitely were not one of her favorite modes of travelling.

"Your date is waiting!" the host urged her.

Mumbling few angry words in a voice only she could hear, she quickened her steps. She truly hoped that they had parachutes stocked up somewhere in there, just in case.

Diggle helped her get onto the chopper. "Are you ready for an adventurous date with Oliver Queen?"

One of the two cameramen followed her in, while the other one stayed behind.

"Do I have a choice?" Felicity quipped.

"Not really." Diggle climbed in and sat in front of her, next to the cameraman. John Diggle was so gigantic, the seat seemed almost too small for him to fit in.

"So where are we going?" Felicity fastened her belt as the chopper began to take off.

"To a secret destination," Diggle replied.

"I hope you're not taking me to climb Mount Everest. I'm not really wearing anything much under this. And I have a feeling… that pink lace may not be a great heat retainer." It took her a moment to realize that she may have over shared. She flinched. "Tell me I didn't just say all that out loud."

A little smile formed on Diggle's face. "Let's just pretend you didn't."

She sighed. A reality show clearly was no place for a girl suffering from a severe case of verbal diarrhea like herself.

"So, are you excited about your date?" Diggle asked.

Felicity rolled her eyes at the host. "If, by excited, you mean, do I constantly envision myself falling head first into a pile of rocks and breaking my neck? Well, yeah... I'm just ecstatic."

"You really don't have to worry about anything, Felicity," Diggle assured her. "We have taken every precaution there is to make sure you're safe. And I hear Oliver is a very experienced climber. In fact, all the ideas for the dates were his. And I think this might be his favorite one. He was pretty insistent that we include it."

"Why am I not surprised to hear that?" she muttered to herself and stupidly peeked outside the window. They were now flying over trees and buildings. Her fear of heights quickly kicked in. She held onto her seat and took a deep breath.

Flying wasn't as bad as actually climbing a mountain or standing on a ledge of a building. Yet, still she was afraid. She simply hoped that no one would notice it, more in particular, the cameraman. She could just imagine them using this footage of her in the promo. All her friends at QC would no doubt laugh at her as they watched the 30 second clip over and over again.

Diggle glared at her with knotted brows. "Is this your first time on a helicopter?"

"No. Sometimes we take the company chopper, when we want to get somewhere fast," she said, trying not to look so frightened by the fact that they were hundreds of feet above ground.

Few minutes later, they landed at the 'secret destination', as Diggle kept referring to it throughout the ride.

The cameraman jumped off first and then Diggle followed suit. Diggle held his hand out for her and with his help, she hopped down from the chopper. She felt a little light headed and needed a couple of seconds to recover.

In the meantime, Diggle had snuck back into the chopper. "Goodbye, Felicity!" He waved his hand as he closed the door.

"Hey! Where are you going?" she cried. The helicopter took off despite of her protests, blowing sand all over her face. She whined as she took her glasses off and wiped the dust off with her hand.

She put them back on and looked around at the wide empty land surrounded by trees and mountains.

"If I had known all I had to do to get you to do this, was to sign on to do a TV show, I would have done this sooner." She heard Oliver's cocky voice from behind.

Felicity spun around, and found Oliver Queen all dressed up and ready to go climbing. The rock climbing rack he was wearing had all sorts of hooks and gear hanging from it. He looked hot, as always.

He handed her a pink helmet. It had a cute little camera on top, just like the one on his helmet.

"If I had known dating a billionaire involved climbing mountains, I would have never joined this show," she retorted as she put the helmet on.

"You're going to enjoy it. Trust me." He extended his hand towards her.

She thought twice before her tentative hand reached out and grasped his hand. "Let's hope it's not like that time you told me to trust you and try that left over spaghetti in your fridge." She could almost feel that vile taste in her mouth even now. "It tasted like sock! Not that I have tasted any socks in my life… but there's this old picture of me… I was about two, I think… and I look like I am trying to bite my toe off." She found herself going off course again and she pursed her lips together to stop herself.

"How many times do I have to say sorry for that spaghetti incident?" he complained, but with a little smile playing on his lips.

"An infinite number of times, Mr. Queen," she replied smilingly and his grin grew wider. She simply loved when he smiled so openly like that.

They walked for few minutes before stopping in front of a considerably huge rock mountain. There were few crew members running around there. Annoyed as she was by the cameras that constantly hovered around her, it was the presence of the paramedics that put her at most unease.

Couple of members from the crew helped her with her harness and other climbing gear. Someone, who introduced himself as an expert, came and gave her some safety pointers.

"Are you ready?" Oliver asked.

"No!" She gazed up at the mountain peak. "I was thinking we were going to climb something not so steep and mountain-y. I didn't think it would be a large rock. Isn't this too high? I mean, can't we climb the one over there. It looks smaller." She pointed at the smaller cliff to their right.

He connected the hook like things on his and her harnesses on to two different codes. "Smaller? Yes. Easy to climb? No… Besides, there's something here that I want you to see." He stepped closer to her and almost whispered into her ear.

"Can't you show it to me now, without making me go all the way up there?" she whined, trying not to think too much about their proximity.

He didn't reply. He just led her closer to the cliff. "Put your foot there." He pointed at a little crack on the rock.

"Here goes nothing." She first steadied her glasses and then did as she was told.

Little by little, she crawled up and half an hour or so later, her legs started to go numb. She hugged the rock, determined not to move any further. "Oliver, I have to tell you something…" Her voice came out more shaken than she had anticipated.

Oliver was standing couple of feet to the right of her. He coolly connected another hook to the rope and faced her. "What?"

"I'm afraid of heights," she confessed.

"I know…" he simply admitted and went about fastening something on his harness.

"What?" she almost lost her grip on the rock.

"Why do you think, I kept on asking you to come climbing with me," he winked.

"You knew all along and you still wanted me to do this with you? Why would you do that?" If she wasn't so afraid of letting go of the rock, she would have punched him.

Oliver put his foot on a little step like hole created on the rock, and pushed himself up. "The best way to conquer your fears is to face them."

She looked up at him, with her cheek still resting against the cold rock. "I disagree. The best way is to stay as far away as possible from them."

He offered her his hand so that she could climb up to where he was. "Do you really want to live your whole life in fear?"

She rejected his hand. "Yeah… if it means I'm not going to fall, break my neck and die."

"Just do this, just this one time. And when you're finally up there, you will realize what your fear has stopped you from experiencing," he claimed as his eyes egged her to take his hand.

She glared at her stupid friend and sometimes boss. "I would love to explain how wrong your philosophy is, Oliver, but not while I'm standing on my tiptoes on a rock…million feet above ground." Felicity held on even more tightly to the rock.

"Felicity, we haven't even climbed five feet. You can literally jump down from here." He grinned like the jerk that he was.

Felicity looked down with one eye closed. It wasn't a lie. They hadn't really climbed that far. She could even see the crew and the cameraman standing below. They were quietly laughing at her.

"Have I told you how much I hate you, lately?" She finally caught his hand and tried to climb up, but she nearly lost her footing and slipped in the process.

Oliver was quick to put a hand around her waist and steady her. "Not in a few days, Ms. Smoak," he told her in a soft voice.

A wave of electricity ran down her spine at his voice. Having his strong arm around her made her heart race faster than it did at the thought of falling from top of a mountain. She learned that their closeness both comforted and frightened her.

"You alright?" His hand tightened on her waist as his eyes searched for hers.

She closed her eyes and swallowed thickly. "Hmm… mmm..." She nodded as she reminded herself that he was her boss, her friend and nothing more. And probably, could never be anything more.

"I won't let anything happen to you… I promise," he uttered, and his breath caressed her cheek like a feather.

Her eyes then fluttered opened at his soothing voice. Only to find his deep blue eyes staring at her.

"Trust me?" he pleaded.

At that moment, if he had said that the world was flat, she would have believed him. If he had said she could fly, she would have believed him. "Yes," she answered with great certainty.

His stare suddenly changed at her answer. His eyes turned darker and his jaws tightened as though he was trying to restrain himself from saying something.

Her heart skipped a beat as her head got filled with very silly thoughts. "Let's just do it," she blurted. She had wanted to say something else, but the words had come out sounding like she was trying to insinuate something else.

His eyebrows quirked up at her words.

"I meant let's do the mountain climbing thing before I start to have second thoughts about it," she clarified.

He smiled amusedly as he helped her climb. "Just don't look down."

More than a couple of hours may have gone by, before they finally reached the top. Oliver got there first and drew her up from one hand as though she was a mere feather.

She had been so exhausted that she just collapsed onto him. He toppled backwards and she landed on top of him. Her face crashed into his chest. "Sorry… I'm just… tired…" She hurriedly pushed herself off of him and managed to stand straight on her jelly like legs.

"But, don't you feel great?" He stood up and grabbed her by her elbow.

It boggled Felicity to hear him still talk so enthusiastically, even after all that climbing and swinging around in ropes they had done. "I feel like I've just run a marathon…" She stopped to gasp for air. "Twice!" she eventually added.

He turned her around from her shoulders.

"What are you do-" She was rendered speechless by the scenery before her. And that wasn't something which happened so often. At that moment, she was able to forget all her fears and just take in the beautiful view in front of her. The sun was about to set behind the mountains and the sky appeared as though it was painted by someone. The patches of green trees and silvery streams were simply breathtaking.

"This is what I wanted to show you." His hands slid down her shoulders and hovered around her waist for a while. "What do you think?"

She could hardly think. For a moment, she thought she may black out from a sensory overload. The sunset, his touch, his voice and the way he stood behind her was making her want things that she shouldn't want. She breathed in and calmed herself down. "Amazing!" she finally answered him.

He took her by the hand and drew her to the side. "I think it's time for some champagne. What do you say?" He gestured at a little picnic blanket laid on the ground.

A bottle of champagne and two little champagne flutes were set on the middle of the blanket.

He usually did the smoldering look, the flowers and the diamond necklaces, to woo women. But never had she known him to do something like this. Something which seemed so personal and endearing. At least not in the last two years. It actually felt too good to be true. And it was. It only took few seconds for Felicity to notice the cameramen and crew hiding behind bushes and rocks. It was all for the show. It was all a well-made production.

The whole charade he had put on for her, reminded her why she was there. She secretly pulled out the letter she had written from her back pocket and kept it hidden in her fist. Plan A and B did not seem viable at that moment. Which only meant that she would have to go with plan C.

"Shall we…" He led her towards the little picnic arrangement.

"That seems to be what's next on our agenda," she answered spitefully as she scanned the area. She tried to analyze what the best angle would be to give the letter undetected by the cameras and sat down putting her legs to the side.

He sat beside her, wearing a frown. "Hmm?"

"Nothing… just bring on the champagne." She took the two champagne flutes by their stems.

Oliver took the champagne bottle and pulled the cork out. It came off with a pop and the champagne bubbled out. She moved the flutes closer and he poured the champagne into them.

"To conquering fears!" He took a flute and raised it high.

"And for not falling off cliffs!" She raised her glass higher.

After clicking the glasses together, Oliver sipped the champagne, his eyes never leaving her.

Hoping the champagne would give her some courage to withstand his unwavering stare, she lifted the glass and gulped the drink in one go. It worked. But only for a fleeting second.

"So, would you try this again?" He put his glass up on the blanket.

"Maybe…" She grabbed the champagne bottle and refilled her glass.

"Good." He took a little sip from his glass again.

"So, how did you find out I was afraid of heights?" She finished her second glass and the champagne began to slowly bubble through her system.

"I didn't notice it until probably couple of months after you joined QC. I think it was after we became… this…" He waved his hand, alluding to the foot or so space left between them. "I don't think you even know you're doing it. But… whenever we go somewhere high… like a bridge…a tall building or whenever we go on the QC chopper, you always grab my arm…"

"No… I don't!" Did she? But whether she did or not, there went her dignity. Now everyone was going to think that she was that kind of an EA. The kind that manipulated situations just so that she could grab her boss's arm. That called for another glass.

"You do! That's why I kept asking you to do this…" he confessed.

She scowled at him. "Because you didn't want me grabbing you?" She couldn't even tell if she was already too tipsy or she was just being her usual 'foot in the mouth' self. Either way, she knew she was about to stray off topic again. "Grabbing you by the arm, I mean. Otherwise it would be harassment. Grabbing the arm could be harassment, too, I guess… grabbing anything without consent is, I think…" She mentally counted down to three and stopped talking.

"Felicity, I just wanted you to get over your fears. You can grab me any time you want... my arm, I mean," he grinned cheekily.

She turned her eyes up at him. "So, what if I had picked a different fortune cookie?" She was feeling daring enough to drink one more glass of champagne. She had climbed a mountain, gosh darn it. She deserved it. She talked herself into drinking one more.

"It wouldn't have been as fun, and…" He stopped talking and frowned at her glass. "Felicity, don't you think you should slow down a little bit?"

"Hey, I could have died anytime within the last few hours. So, I think I should be allowed to drink more than a couple of glasses…" she slurred. The champagne seemed to be slowly working its way into her system already.

Sebastian appeared out of nowhere. "Hey, guys… would you guys mind crossing your arms and drinking? It would look nice with the sunset." He disappeared off to wherever he came from.

Felicity shrugged. Cross hand drinking seemed a fairly harmless thing to do. And it may probably give her a chance to set plan C in to motion. So, without a second thought, she put her arm forward. Oliver moved closer to her and crossed his arm with hers. They started to drink, with their eyes locked on each other.

Neither was in a hurry to finish their drink. But, sadly it did finish. They both lowered the champagne flutes, but their gaze stayed the same. The longer they stared, the more nervous Felicity became. However, she didn't have the willpower to look away either. Unconsciously, her other hand began to open and she was suddenly reminded of plan C. She leaned closer towards him, to execute it. It was now or never.

At first, Oliver seemed slightly surprised by her advances. However, since he didn't make any attempt to move back, she leaned in further. The empty champagne flutes slipped from both their hands. Praying for everything to go right, she closed her eyes and planted a kiss on his lips. Thankfully, Oliver didn't throw her off of him as she kept imagining him to.

His lips were warm and inviting. She welcomed the wonderful tingling sensation that ran through her body as she lightly nipped on his lips.

Before she forgot why she was doing what she was doing, she blindly searched for his pocket and slid the letter in as quickly as possible.

Felicity's job was done. But, she was unwilling to tear her lips away from him. With some resolute, she placed her hand on his chest and began to pull away. Just then, he caught her by her arm and kept her still. His tongue began to seek entrance and she couldn't stop herself from parting her lips.

Was he simply playing the part of the handsome billionaire trying to woo his EA on a TV show, or was it real? Felicity couldn't understand and she couldn't care. She blamed it on the champagne and decided to give in. She let her hormones and senses take control of her.

She moaned as his movements became more demanding and urgent. He cupped her face and each little brush of his lips, he reeled her further into him. She grabbed a hold of his t-shirt, as though she was afraid he would stop.

The champagne, the kissing, the way one of his hand rested on her waist, it all began to feel like Déjà vu. She felt as though this wasn't the first time they had let themselves get carried away.

Crazy visions began to flood her mind just as they had last night. She saw herself smiling and walking backwards to his room. And he was following her, his eyes set on her like a hawk. Her steps were not steady, and she stumbled onto the bed behind. He ended up on top of her. The images were clearer than last time, but she didn't want to put too much meaning into it. It could just be the champagne messing with her brain.

Nevertheless, Felicity reluctantly broke the kiss. It had to be done. Or else, she knew, at the end of the day, she would be the one to get hurt. Not the billionaire, with four other romantic dates to follow after this.

"Felicity," her name escaped from his lips as though it meant something more.

She opened her eyes and she realized a helicopter was hovering above them. She deliberately turned her complete attention to it, and not to his hand that was clutching her wrist.

The chopper landed on the rock and John Diggle once more jumped out of it. "It's time to go home, Cinderella!"

What would a reality show be without a well-timed interruption? She smiled a little at the thought.

When she tried to walk up to Diggle, Oliver tugged her back from her wrist and stopped her. "Felicity?"

She turned back and saw him gazing at her. His eyes seemed as though they were asking her to stay. But her brain told her not to be fooled. "I have to go." She glared at their connection and he let go.

She looked up at him and he put on a faint smile.

"Thanks for the… champagne," she mouthed softly before running back and getting onto the chopper.

She could still see him stare at her even as the helicopter began to take off.

She watched him, till his figure turned to a little spec in the background. Her fears were completely forgotten and replaced by something else.

Her mind was preoccupied by the kiss the whole ride through to the mansion. Her cheeks still blushed even at the memory and she hoped the camera wouldn't be able capture it.

The moment Felicity stepped inside the manor, Helena and Isabel led an interrogation session. Felicity replied with short answers and escaped to her room before they grilled her for more details.

She ran straight to her bathroom and closed the door. She stood with her back leaning against the door. She couldn't believe they actually kissed and she had been the one to, in fact, initiate it. Albeit, she had kissed him to pass on some information. But she didn't really think she would have enough courage to actually go through with her plan. The champagne certainly had helped.

Her hand came up and touched her lips. She could still feel his lips on hers. She felt a smile creep in and she shook her head.

She had to be smarter than that. She should be smart enough to know just as she had kissed him with an alternate motive, he may have, too. Everything was an act. She shouldn't day dream about a man, who still hadn't gotten over at least one of his ex-girlfriends.

She needed to never forget why she was actually there. And nothing reminded her of her obligations than the message written across her bathroom mirror. Her eyes went wide in shock, as she read the large lettering written possibly with a deep red lipstick. "_I know why you're here, Blondie!"_ the message said.

The only person to ever call her 'Blondie' was Helena. So, this surely had to be one of her antics. "Ha ha ha! Very funny, Helena!" Felicity laughed dryly as she wiped it off with a tissue. However, she just couldn't shake off the strange feeling that something was off.

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**A/N**: KarenfrmMD, smoak999, Guest, Guest, LalaWho, lizzybennettdarcy, CassandraBlake: Thanks for the reviews!

Dark-Supernatural-Angel: Oliver doesn't watch the unedited footage. The way I figured it, the show will air an episode once they filmed for a week and they won't show everything and some of it will be edited out. So, even if Oliver watched the show he won't know everything and he will be one week too late to know them.

Gin2a: We'll get to know more about Laurel's date next chapter. And about the other dates too. I won't go into so much detail about all the dates though. But someone will be eliminated in the next chapter.

Jessspider, bjq, Dark-Supernatural-Angel , schrooten5: : Thanks! I don't know if I want them to remember all of what happened or didn't happen that night. But I know what happened ;)

Jenniferfornlof, GreenPhoenix3: Loved both your ideas. I might use them at some point in the story. Thanks!

Taniabreithaupt, Ms Luna Moon: Hope you liked what happened. I wanted to keep it light and sweet. I don't know that much about fear of heights. I read up on it. It said some people are afraid of going on helicopters and some not. I hope I did alright with it.

montclaire06: Thank you! Hope you liked Felicity in this one too.

littlegirl-misao, ximaginex : Thanks! Soooo happy you guys enjoying the story.

Feli41319: Thank you! And thanks for reading my other stories too.

Bonetrek: LOL! I bet Felicity thought about faking a broken something too!

Kripnatic: Thank you for the lovely review. Hope you had fun reading this one as well.

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	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Sorry for taking so long to update. Thanks for the favorites, alerts and reviews. (Yay! 108 reviews)

Thanks to the wonderful KarenfrmMD for going over this chapter for me!

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**Chapter 5**

Oliver looked out the limo and realized that he was not that far away from the 'Billionaire Bachelor' mansion.

He took out the crumpled letter Felicity had snuck into his pocket five days ago. He started to read it once again, probably for the hundredth time. "_Oliver,_ _I hope I was able to give this letter to you without getting caught. And I hope it wasn't by executing 'Plan C'. Just in case it was, I'm extremely sorry for kissing you." _Oliver groaned as he finished reading the first paragraph. He didn't even want to think about why he felt so disappointed every time he read the last line.

He may not have been expecting a kiss of any kind that day. But he wasn't expecting Felicity to have kissed him just to pass on the letter he was now holding in his hand.

"_I hope it wasn't that bad. I mean, if I did go through with Plan C. Not that I think I'm a bad kisser. I haven't gotten any complaints. At least not yet." _The kiss wasn't bad at all. If it was even remotely bad, he wouldn't have responded to her kiss like he had. In fact, he hadn't yet been able to get the kiss out of his mind. He believed it had to be because 'Oliver Queen' was not used to being exploited by a girl. Normally it was he who used women. Not the other way around.

He read the next couple of lines. "_I don't know if and when you'll get to see what's going on in this mansion. So I thought I should let you in on what I've found out about your ex-girlfriends before the elimination." _

He truly appreciated Felicity's efforts. However, he just wished she hadn't delivered the letter the way she had.

Then again, it was just a kiss. So, why Felicity had done what she had done, shouldn't really matter to him. Yet, surprisingly it did.

"_I didn't find much about Mckenna or Isabel. Well, maybe, except for the fact that Isabel is a diabolical woman, who apparently knows why everyone is on the show. But, I think she's just bluffing." _Oliver could just imagine Felicity disapprovingly rolling her eyes as she wrote of the former ballerina.

"_Although, she did spill some secrets on your gorgeous Laurel_. _According to Miss Rochev, Laurel has gotten disbarred over some kind of a drug problem. And again, according to Miss Rochev, Laurel is here because marrying the billionaire Oliver Queen, could help her pay her debts. But, Laurel said she's not here for the money." _After receiving Felicity's letter, Oliver used some of his contacts to find out whether there was any truth to any of what Felicity had written. He never would have taken Laurel to have resorted to drugs for any reason. But he was shocked when he found out that it was indeed true. Laurel had been disbarred and was in heavy debt.

Nevertheless, he was aware that none of it meant that Laurel's intention for being on the show was purely for his money.

He jumped to the next paragraph. "_Then, onto Helena Bertinelli. I don't understand why you ever dated someone like her. Except for the obvious 'Bad girls in tight black clothes are hot' reasons." _

Honestly, there was no other reason for dating Helena. She was troubled and looked hot in her black leather pants. Those days, it was all that it took to impress him.

"_Two of her ex-boyfriends have restraining orders against her and one of them has mysteriously disappeared. If I were you, I would stay the hell away from her. But, you can do whatever you want. It is your life." _Oliver could almost hear Felicity's voice and see her face as he read the letter. Bizarrely, it just made him miss her more.

"_Hope this letter was somehow useful to you. Until next time then. 3 Felicity._" Oliver had seen her draw that heart in front of her name many times before. He knew she had done it out of habit. Yet, he stared at the little heart moment longer, as though it held a deeper meaning.

"_P.S: I may have led everyone to believe that something happened between us that night."_ He knew exactly what night she was referring to. And just as her, he didn't really have a clue as to what had happened that night. Yet, in a strange way, he was sure that nothing had happened. Because, how could he forget if anything had happened between Felicity and him? How could he have ever let himself forget something like that?

The limo came to a halt and Oliver quickly shoved the letter back inside his pocket.

"Mr. Queen, we are here." The driver opened the door for him.

Just as Oliver stepped out, a woman called out to him. "Mr. Queen, come this way!"

Oliver turned to the voice and saw middle aged woman wearing a 'Billionaire Bachelor' t-shirt waving at him. He followed her inside and she took her to a study room.

There he found Diggle, seated in front of the fireplace. "Oliver, before we start the elimination ceremony, I want you to see something." He gestured at the chair beside him and asked Oliver to sit.

The room became slightly darker. A large TV screen appeared on the bare wall above the fireplace. Just as Oliver sat down, some kind of a video started to play on the screen. "_Hi, Oliver_! _I hope you enjoyed our date as much as I did_." Isabel popped up on the TV.

Oliver smirked back at the woman on the screen as he reminisced on their date. The conversation that took place between the two of them that day may have seemed rather ordinary, but what went on under the table clearly was anything but.

Isabel was secretly trying to do things with her foot that could not ever be shown on a PG rated TV show. Fortunately for her, none of the cameramen noticed where her foot was travelling. The way the tables and chairs were designed and placed, helped her cause immensely.

Isabel truly had not changed. She was still the same Isabel he used to fool around with. However, Oliver Queen had changed. While a much younger Oliver Queen would have egged her on to continue with her ministrations, the new and improved Oliver Queen wasn't enjoying the proceedings as much. Something didn't feel quite right. He felt as if he was betraying someone.

Oliver tried as subtly as he could to let Isabel know he wasn't really into playing footsie with her. It took him more than a few glares to convince her to stop.

"_I'm hoping that you will decide to keep me around because…" _Isabel paused and winked. "_I think you know why."_ The background music used on the video made her words sound more erotic than they actually were.

The screen then faded to black and Mckenna's smiling face came on. "_Hello, Oliver._" She waved at the camera. Clips of their date started to play and her voice ran over the video. "_I had a great time. I've never gone on a carriage ride before. And I really loved it."_

The sentiment wasn't the same from Oliver's side though. While nothing had gone wrong on their date, nothing had gone so right either. He felt no spark between the two of them. Whatever that had attracted him to her, seemed to have disappeared.

"_So I hope I get another chance to go on a date with you, Oliver_." Mckenna crossed her fingers and closed her eyes. "_Bye_!" She blew a kiss at the camera. There was a dazed smile playing on her lips as her image faded away.

Helena appeared next. "_Hey, Ollie…"_ She laughed. She knew he hated when she called him 'Ollie'. "_Although, I would've rather gone with you somewhere more romantic, I think we both had fun at the carnival_."

It may have been fun for her, but for him it was torture. She was fiercely competitive. Whatever game or ride they would partake in, she would make some kind of a competition out of it. It was fun the first few times. But more she lost, more aggressive she became. She wasn't happy the few times he let her win either.

What Felicity had said about Helena supposedly having something to do with the disappearance of her ex-boyfriend, didn't help matters any. He felt more like a detective on a stakeout trying to catch a murderer than a billionaire on a date with his hot ex-girlfriend.

"_I'm not going to ask you to not to eliminate me because I know you won't_." Helena twirled a lock of her dark hair between her fingers. Her image blurred into the background as Oliver's favorite EA emerged on the screen.

Instantly, Oliver felt more at ease. He couldn't help but smile at the way Felicity fixed the tiny microphone set on the collar of her blouse.

"_Is it on?"_ she asked someone on her right. "_Oh! Hi, Oliver_," she added quickly once she realized they were already filming. "_I don't really know what I'm supposed to say…. I think I'm supposed to say that I enjoyed our date. I mean I really did have fun… when I wasn't so worried about falling off the cliff and dying_!" Her blue eyes got bigger as her hands elaborated how she could have fallen off the rock and died.

He would have never let that or anything of the sort happen to her. He was sure of it.

"_Anyway,_ _thanks for trying to help me get over my fears." _Highlights of their date started to play. Including their not so little smooch.

Oliver felt himself leaning forward on his chair, as he tried to get a closer look. Then suddenly, it cut back to Felicity's interview. "_But anyway, in case I haven't gotten over it... I mean my fears, I hope you would still let me grab you- your arm… when we go on our next date… if you want to, that is …_" she grumbled, seemingly disappointed at what she had babbled. "_Can I do another take?"_ He heard her ask as her face slowly disappeared from the screen.

"_Hi, Ollie_," Laurel came into view. "_I think we had a great time last night. We may not be the same people that we were few years ago, but I think we still have a special connection."_

That was what Oliver had thought too before going on the date. He had expected some kind of magic to transpire between the two of them. But it all felt little too awkward.

Desperately hoping to rekindle something, he had even given a little peck on her lips at the end of the night. Other than reawakening the memories of all those times they had fought about him cheating on her with her sister, their kiss literally did nothing to him. He felt extremely underwhelmed.

"So, Oliver, have you made your decision?" Diggle asked just as Laurel's video ended.

"I think so." Oliver nodded when, in fact, he hadn't got a single clue as to who he should be sending home. Although, according to the long phone conversation he had had with Sebastian last night, it seemed the producer was very keen on getting rid of Mckenna. During their conversation, Oliver caught Sebastian often refer to Mckenna as bland and boring.

"Alright then, shall we go and meet the ladies and let them know their fates?" Diggle stood up and led Oliver through the hallways to another much larger room.

While they stood facing the entrance, Oliver noticed that the little stand beside him this time around had only four roses.

The contestants entered the room one after the other and stood few feet in front of Oliver in a straight line. Helena and Isabel stood confidently at one end, while Felicity stood in the middle of the pack nervously playing with her hands. Laurel who was standing at the other end looked up at him and smiled. Mckenna on the other hand simply stared at him with lot of determination.

"Oliver, who do you want to call first?" Diggle's resounding voice reminded Oliver that he hadn't yet made a decision.

Oliver looked up at the women. His eyes wondered towards Felicity. The decision should be simple. Since she was his spy, he should let her stay on the show.

But still, he was apprehensive to make a decision. On one hand, he knew if he were to eliminate her, he would have his EA back. She would then be back at QC with him, where she belonged. She would be sitting on her desk across from him, on the other side of the glass wall.

On the other hand, he desperately needed to keep her on the show. But, he wasn't sure if it was merely because she had been a very useful spy. "Felicity," he finally called her.

Felicity slowly stepped towards him. "Hi," she greeted. She looked as though she had so many things to ask him. Maybe about his thoughts on Plan C.

He handed a rose to her. "Felicity, I want to go out on another date with you," he said simply, without thinking.

Her face turned almost to the colour of the red rose in her hand. "I'd like that, too…"

"Great!" He leaned over to kiss her cheek, but all he could see were her slightly parted lips. He wanted to see whether her lips were as soft as he remembered. He wanted to know whether she would let out those soft moans if he were to kiss her again.

It took a valiant effort on his part to not to take her lips with his own again and to just lay a little kiss on her cheek.

"Eh, yeah great," she mumbled before returning to her previous spot with the other girls.

Oliver glanced over at the remaining four women. "Laurel," he called. They may not have had the best of dates, but he was willing to give it another go. He had been waiting for another chance with her for so long, it would be really stupid to let go of her now.

"I want to see where this whole thing takes us." He gave her a rose.

Laurel smiled brightly. "I'm really happy to hear that." She slowly turned around and walked back to the line.

Two more roses were left and three girls were looking at him eagerly. He called Isabel and gave her one of the two roses.

After much deliberation, Oliver decided to give the last rose to Mckenna. Their date may have been bordering on being lousy, but he felt he would rather date her than someone like Helena.

"I'm sorry, Helena," he told her as he reached forward and tried to console her.

Helena pushed him back. "This can't be over… No.. No…" She slurred. "No! This is not over, Oliver Queen!" She marched a few steps forward and grabbed an innocent vase lying close by. "You will all be sorry!" She threw the vase at the other contestants.

"Felicity!" Before Oliver could reach his EA, she had already gotten out of the way.

The little vase hit the wall behind them and shattered into pieces. One of the pieces ricocheted off the wall and struck Laurel on her forehead. "Laurel, are you alright?" Oliver ran to her aid and checked to see if she was hurt in anyway.

"I'm alright." She touched the little bump emerging on her forehead.

"You'll all be sorry!" Helena pointed her finger at everyone in the room.

Couple of well-built crew members showed up and quickly seized Helena. She tried to wriggle out, but the men were too strong for her to fight off. "You're an idiot, Oliver Queen!" She shouted as the two men escorted her out of the building.

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**A/N: **kripnatic: Thanks for the lovely review. Next chapter, they'll all be playing "Never Have I Ever" (suggested by GreenPheonix3). So I think it might be bit more fun.

emilyhotchnerandolicityfan : Felicity might show a bit of jealousy soon. And I will try to update the other fic too. I think I wrote that chapter on my other fic about three times now but I'm still not happy with it.

Jenniferfornlof, Gin2a, : Thanks I hope you liked this chapter too.

Mia: So cool! I don't watch much TV shows like this either.

Guest, DarkSupernaturalAngel,: I don't know if I should answer this ;)

schrooten5: Cool! After I wrote about what Felicity's date was going to be I realized I don't know anything about rock climbing. LOL. Glad you liked the chapter.

MS Luna Moon: Thanks for reviewing!Thea will show up on the show itself. But don't know if I'll be writing in her POV.

CBBW3words8letters, Bunney, Red, walkinthegardengnome, TheOddManOut, LalaWho, bjq, mellbell12123, Sunny2006, smoak999, ShipsRoyale : Thanks so much for the review.

littlegirl-misao: Thanks for the re-review. LOL. I only kept one!

lucy1997: I'm not a huge Laurel fan either. But I don't mind her sometimes.

Kripnatic: Aww thanks sooo much!


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